China on Thursday voiced its strong indignation at and firm objection to the U.S. allegation of the so-called "crackdown" on Falun Gong.

"China demands the U.S. government to respect the stand of the Chinese government on the Falun Gong issue and stop interfering in China's internal affairs on the excuse of Falun Gong, so as to avoid harming Sino-U.S. relations," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao.

Zhu made the remarks Thursday in response to a question by a journalist regarding U.S. State Department spokesman's condemnation on Wednesday of China's "crackdown" on Falun Gong and a call asking China to respect the internationally recognized freedom of religion, freedom of belief and freedom of conscience.

Zhu Bangzao said facts have proven that Falun Gong, instead of being a religious group, is actually an anti-human, anti-society and anti-science evil cult that keeps cheating and harming the people and has seriously endangered the society.

He referred to the fact that in China alone, Falun Gong has claimed nearly 1,700 lives of practitioners who went insane, committed suicide or refused medical treatment.

"Any government with a sense of responsibility will not adopt a laissez-faire policy on such an evil cult," said Zhu.

The Chinese government protects the freedom of speech, gathering and religious belief of its citizens. However, it will never allow anyone to use any evil thought to bring social disorder or harm the life or security of its people, he said.

The ban of the Chinese government on the Falun Gong cult conforms with law and aims to protect the basic rights and freedom of the Chinese citizens, Zhu said, adding that the ban has been firmly upheld and supported by all the Chinese people and has been widely understood in the international community.

Zhu said the unreasonable condemnation of the U.S. State Department spokesman is "regardless of fact" and "totally unacceptable" to the Chinese government.

(Xinhua 01/26/2001)